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Writing a Life of the Stars

New York Public Library’s Rose Reading Room

Ah, Spencer Krug. In his latest incarnation as a solo artist, he goes by Moonface.

It seems you can’t mention Spencer Krug without touching on his former bands, the most prominent of which was Wolf Parade. Full disclosure: I think their first album, Apologies to the Queen Mary, is a masterpiece and, not to get too High Fidelity here, is one of my top five albums of all time. Needless to say, I couldn’t help but walk into the Ukrainian Federation on the last night of Pop Montreal with high expectations.

The Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade days was like many men in their 20s: lonely, energetic, unpredictable, romantic. The Spencer Krug of Moonface bears all the hallmarks of a man well into his 30s: confident, self-deprecating, honest. Still romantic.

Witty and clever as ever, he sounds less like the younger man of yore who was desperately trying to prove himself – the one who, on the Wolf Parade track “Dear Sons and Daughters of Holy Ghosts,” sang “I gotta get a new bell to ring / A new song to sing / A steady hand to ring / A readiness of things / A new plan to bring to the people / People, I can trick ‘em into thinking anything / ‘Cause you know / Rust sits just right in the light / It’s gold”

He has evolved into like someone who is comfortable with who he is, particularly when he sings on this track “I regretfully withdraw my offer to try to improve myself / I sincerely believe the results would be a disaster”

Moonface is stripped down – just a man, his well-defined forearms (sadly hidden in this video), and his piano. The distinctive voice is still there, but it’s softened.